Match stats: FAI Ford Cup final

Sligo Rovers have yet to concede in the four FAI Ford Cup games played thus far.

When Rovers won the competition in 2010, we did so without conceding a goal, becoming the first team to do so since Shamrock Rovers in 1968 and only the fourth team ever. The other sides to do so were Dundalk in 1958 and Athlone Town in 1924.

Going back further its eight clean sheets in 10 in the FAI cup and 13 in 16. The three teams to score against Rovers in the Cup since the 09 final loss to Sporting Fingal are Pike Rovers, Shelbourne and Monaghan Utd. The last player to do so being Monaghan’s Keith Quinn with a penalty.

In the last 23 FAI Cup games Rovers have 18 wins, three draws and two losses.

Of the last 11 wins in this competition for the Bit o’Red six have been by a single goal and two have been on penalties.

Monaghan’s win last season over Rovers in the cup is the Bit o’ Red’s only loss in 16 FAI Cup games. Going back further Rovers have just two defeats in 23. The other being against Sporting Fingal.

Rovers have scored the first goal in 16 out of 18 FAI Cup ties. The exceptions are against Pike Rovers and Shelbourne both in 2011.

The team scoring first hasn’t won the FAI Cup final since Cork City beat Longford Town in 2007. In finals where both teams have scored the last team to win after scoring first was Derry City when beating Shelbourne 2-1 in 1995.

The cup final has gone to at least extra-time for five out of the last seven years having been decided in 90 minutes for six years previous to that.

Raf Cretaro has appeared in every FAI Cup game while at the club since not playing in the 3-2 away win against Shamrock Rovers in June 2007. That’s a total of 21 games in which he has scored six times.

Rovers have had five different goalscorers in the cup so far. Danny Ventre and Anthony Elding lead the way with two each, both scoring in the wins over Waterford and Shamrock. Gavin Peers, Raf Cretaro and Alan Keane have all got one each.

Joseph Ndo has made 21 FAI Cup appearances with 11 of them being with Rovers though he has never scored a goal in the competition.

Danny North is yet to record a goal for the club in the FAI Cup despite having played five games, he has scored in every other competition beside Europe.

This will be Rovers 11th FAI Cup final. Four have been won and six lost. Only four teams Shamrock Rovers(33), Dundalk(14), Shelbourne(18) and Bohemians(14) have made more.

Winning a fifth final would put the Bit o’Red in a tie for 5th as the most successful team in the competition. The other teams to have win five are Derry City and Drumcondra while the four teams mentioned above have all won more.

The Bit o’ Red lost the first five finals contested which took eight games including replays.

In total the 10 finals Rovers have been in have taken 13 games. Rovers have scored just six goals from those with 1983 the only time more than one goal was netted. Only one of the goals have been scored in the first half. 14 goals have been conceded.

Rovers will be looking to win the tournament for a third time in four seasons something only done previously by Shamrock Rovers.

This final makes it four in five years in for the Bit o’Red.

Winning the cup would mean four FAI Cup and league wins combined in as many seasons. That would make Rovers the most successful club in the country’s biggest two competitions since the beginning of summer soccer in 2003.

Ciaran Kelly, Alan Keane, Gavin Peers and Danny Ventre can all equal Tony Fagan’s record of having appeared in four FAI Cup finals with the club.

The teams have already played in cup competition this year with Drogheda United winning the Setanta Cup semi-final 2-1 on aggregate.

The Drogs also came out on top in cup competition last year in the EA Sports when winning 2-1 in Hunky Dorys Park also at the semi-final stage.

Rovers haven’t lost any of the last four meetings with Drogheda since losing the first of the season which was in the Setanta Cup. Two of the four games have been won by Rovers with the other two drawn.

The four match unbeaten run follows a run of the successive defeats to the Louth club.

The first of Drogs three wins ended Rovers run of nine successive wins over them and an unbeaten run of 17 fixtures stretching back to a 1-0 loss in Drogheda in October 2007.

The Bit o’Red have only kept one clean sheet in the last nine games between Rovers and Drogheda which was in the 1-0 win in the second leg of the Setanta Sports Cup semi-final.

United have only one from 20 meetings with Rovers. It came in the other leg of the Setanta Sports Cup tie.

The last six games between the clubs couldn’t be any more even with two wins each and both teams scoring eight goals in that time.

Anthony Elding has three goals in the last three meetings of the sides, one of those appearances was as a late sub.

David Cawley has scored two times in his last three starts against Drogheda including the only goal in the Setanta Sports Cup win.

Drogheda’s six goals against Rovers in 2013 have come from six different players.

Rovers have played in two finals against non-Dublin teams beating Derry City in 1994 but losing to Dundalk in 1981.

Opposition: Drogheda United

This will be a fourth FAI Cup final for Drogheda. They lost their first two to Limerick in 1971 after a replay and in 1976 were defeated by Bohemians. The Drogs finally got their hands on the trophy in 2005 with a victory over Cork City.

The failed to score in any of the first two finals which consisted of three games before scoring twice when lifting the trophy in 2005.

In the six years after the win they won only two FAI Cup ties. The first was in 2008 against Douglas Hall before winning once again in 2011 against Mervue United. They won a further two in 2012 against Mayfield United and Wexford Youths.

The teams to beat them since 2006 were Bohemians in 07 and 08, Shamrock Rovers, UCD, Dundalk and St. Pats.

It will be a third cup final of the season for the county Louth club but they have lost the other two both to Shamrock Rovers.

Their only defeat in the last nine FAI Cup games was on penalties to St. Pats in last year’s quarter-final.

Three of the current Drogheda side, Michael Schlingermann, Alan Byrne and Jason Marks, played in Rovers last FAI Cup defeat when they were in the Monaghan side to knock us out last season. Jason Marks getting one of the goals.

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